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Fun fact: I've always timed my trips, no idea why. But as of now, I left Atlanta 32 hours, 27 minutes, and 53 seconds ago. That's apparently the time it takes to get from ATL to LAX, via 3 completed flights, 7 missed flights, a connection in Vegas (...damn) and 1 lost piece of luggage, which turns out to be not ideal when you only have 1 piece of luggage to your name. But they have 12 1/2 hours to find it before my 13 hour flight to Sydney... I joke, but for the price of this standby ticket, I'd easily do it all over again.

It's been a great few weeks visiting friends and family --- who have mostly become one in the same --- in America, but I'm ready to hit the road again to get back to Australia to see my f&f there. Between the wedding, lunches and dinners, sleepovers, Braves games, and everything else, it was great catching up with the dozens of people I was able to see, whether it be intentionally or by luck.

There were 2 toasts made that I'll warrant as being decent enough to write:

First, I told Wes at his wedding, if you were to look at our past 5 years, we haven't seen each other that much. Sure, we grew up together; but he went to Georgia, and I to Tech; he works 80 hours a week making movies, and I traveled with consulting; he moved to Atlanta, and I to Australia. A couple of trips here and there for football or a general visit, but for the most part, life has changed so much since we saw each other every single day back in high school nearly a decade ago --- after all, the purpose for the entire trip was the wedding. But the beauty in friendship is that it does not matter if you saw each other last week or last year, you pick up like it was yesterday. I love that and consider myself lucky to have such good friends where that happens. It's like we never missed a beat.

The second was said at Plishka's "surprise" birthday party. Here's the gist: I've made some great friends all around the world. Hell, I could circle the globe and not pay for a bed if I needed to. But having lived in 3 continents, I'm still amazed how absolutely incredible my friends in Atlanta are. I fear the day when we're all "too busy" to get together each week to eat, hang out, and generally crack jokes at one another. And to be fair, after learning about what everyone has accomplished in the past year, whether it be a new career, a new partner, or even a new kid, that day could be coming upon us quickly. (Not that I disagree with careers, partners, or kids.) But as we were talking that night, I sure as hell don't want to be 40, sitting at my child's baseball game, look around, and think "how the fuck did I get here?" and "where did the last 15 years just go?" pop into my head.

So, a simple ask. Make the extra effort to get together once every week or two for a dinner. Have a movie night. Go to a Braves game. Travel. We are all living in the prime of our life right now --- let's not let it pass us by.